How to Find Deleted/Lost Files on Mac

It happens a lot of time when files get lost from computers. Sometimes this happens due to deletion of files, but other times the main reason is that we don’t know the exact location of the file. If you are trying to find deleted files on Mac or find lost files on Mac, then we can recommend you some methods that would help you get those files back without going through much trouble. Even if the files are deleted and empty trash bin from your Mac, then you can use the Mac recovery tool to find deleted or lost files on Mac.

Method 1. How to Find Lost Files on Mac Manually

The Apple Inc. has its own tools which can help the users on topics like how to find deleted files on Mac. You can find the lost or deleted file with the help of Spotlight. The files can also be found in Trash Can. Both of these methods are explained below:

How to Use the Spotlight on Mac to Find Lost Files on Mac

The Spotlight on Mac is a powerful tool which can help the users to locate the lost or missing files. It has a new name now which is Siri Search. It can be used to find any file on the computer. You can find recently deleted files Mac with the help of Spotlight. Just click on the Search icon on the Menu bar, or press the Command and Space key to open the Spotlight. Now type the file name and it will show the results. You can also type the format of the file to search for the specific files. When you find lost files on Mac in the spotlight results, press and hold the Command key and the file’s location will appear at the bottom of the preview. To open the file location, press the Command-R Keys.

How to Find Deleted Files on Mac from the Trash Can

If the files are deleted by pressing the Delete Button or by pressing the right click and then delete, then the files will be transferred to Trash Can. So, you don’t have to worry much if you want to know how to find deleted files on Mac from the trash bin. Go to the Finder and click on the Trash Can icon. Open it and look for the files that you want to recover. When you find the target file, drag the file to the desktop or simply right click on the file and select the Put Back option and the file will be stored.

If the above-mentioned method failed to find your lost files on Mac, then you can opt for Mac file recovery. No matter how you lost the data, this method will surely work for you. Here we recommend you to free try - iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. It allows the user to recover deleted files on Mac, formatted drive recovery, and find lost file on Mac. The users can easily find deleted files on Mac or find lost data from over 100 different external storage devices. It also supports more than 500 file types. It is a very safe and effective method that will provide you with an almost fully recover your photos, videos, music files, powerpoint, excel, word, RTF, email, PDF and other files on Mac.

Find Deleted Files on Mac - The users can save their file due to accidental deletion, empty trash bin or 'command + del' to deleted files.

Unformat: In cases like a drive is formatted without saving the data files on another device, you can use the software and it will unformat SD card, disk/partition, USB driv etc.

Find Deleted/Lost in Other Scenarios: It will ensure that even after you experienced an unexpected system crash, virus attack, system upgrade, reinstallation, etc. you will still have a way to recover your files.

The step-by-step guide on how to find lost files on Mac and recover them with Mac file recovery tool is provided below:

Step 1. Download and install the iBeesoft Data Recovery tool on your Mac. When you will launch the software, you will be able to see all the supported files. Don’t forget to uncheck the files which you don’t want to recover. Then click on the "Start" button to find deleted files on Mac or find lost files on mac

Step 2. Choose the hard disk or external storage device, and click on the "Scan" button and the software will scan the target files. The scanning might take some time depending on the size of the files.

Step 3. The scan will be completed in some time and all the files will be displayed on the main window. Select the files category and preview the find lost files if you want to. On the target file, click on "Recover" and save the find deleted or lost files back on your Mac.